Sphere

Product Information

I already mentioned the style and mood of the book, I just want to take the topic again to mention that it was a thrilling experience, since you feel that the story is taken very seriously from the scientific angle.

The impact of their decisions is not inherently clear. As far as you know, nobody is trying to save the world or prevent some sort of disaster. This is a fact-finding mission where the stakes are subtle, giving the story a chance to breathe. Well, I had no idea there was a Sphere book. I only saw the movie and thought that was it. Not to mention that the book is written by the same author as Jurassic Park. As I mentioned, I don’t think this is really a scary story, but there was definitely tension for me as I read it. Part of it was the underwater environment which for some reason tends to creep me out, more so than stories set in space where the atmosphere-related dangers are similar. There was also often a “noooo, don’t do that!” feeling when characters did things that weren’t always necessarily stupid, although sometimes they were, but that I was sure would lead to a bad end. I'm going to say something that I don't normally say with Crichton and that is the characters in this one are really good and enjoyable. He focuses on Norman Johnson as the protagonist in this one, who's a psychologist and is able to provide a real psychological insight into each character. There's a lot of development for the three main characters and its a very engaging journey. Their inner psyche has an important impact on the story and Crichton fully explores each.I don't think Michael Crichton meant Sphere to come out sounding that way, but his characters are so paper-thin there's nothing left of them but their stereotypes.

I didn't picture Dustin Hoffman for the role of Dr. Goodman, no offense to Mr. Hoffman, which is an actor that I admired a lot, but I thought in Sean Connery for that character. I will not delve into spoilers, but I had a grand time trying to figure out what was going on in the murky depths. Once the sphere is brought to the forefront and you have an understanding of what is going on, other strange occurrences start to happen. The habitat is seemingly changing its layout, others seem to be losing their wits, and some crew are even becoming much more beautiful as time rolls on. Weird! Ted: "I think everybody knows how I feel. I feel that we should have some brief remarks for posterity." Sphere is a 1987 novel by Michael Crichton, his sixth novel under his own name and his sixteenth overall. It was adapted into the film Sphere in 1998. [1]I like women villains. I know real women can be any one of sex-obsessed, power hungry, manipulative, hysterical (Crichton literally uses this word), incompetent, and bitter. But why is Beth all of these things? And she never misses a chance to mention she's a woman? Lots of intrigue at the front. Crichton introduces an anomaly and compelled me keep reading until his whatsit was explained. What is the alien spacecraft? Who's inside it? Where did it come from? What does it want? All in all, the resolution of these questions were not what I expected, but satisfying. His brainstorm to position the spacecraft on the ocean floor was a very good one. If the situation wasn't terrifying enough, putting the craft in the deep brings another level of unease and dread, as well as opportunity to write about physiology, oceanography and marine biology. Sphere is, in my opinion, Michael Crichton's most interesting book on two levels. First, the plot: a truly great parable on the endgame of technology, and the long-sought-after dream of Alladin's magic lamp. I don't want to go too deep, but I'll say that it is, in my humble hypothesis, the uncredited inspiration for the excellent show Lost. While the plot is a highlight, I personally keep this book high on my list of favorites, after all these years, because of the Essay, which breaks with/plays off Crichton's typical form: instead of a broken monologue with a human genius, it takes the form of an italicized, nearly stream of consciousness Socratic dialogue with... something. Again, the writing is problematic (Crichton manages to use the word "foam" 23 times or so in two paragraphs) but, even after all these years, the content still stirs me: the subject is consciousness and the power and meaning of the question mark... again I'll let him do the rest. You can (and should) disagree with his analysis, you can shrug aside his monosyllables, but if something in his notion of What Makes Humanity? doesn't stir you, then you are missing out. You have finally and irrevocably left the seventh grade, that painful age of wondering, in favor of a well-fortified adulthood... and as nice as that sounds, you probably left something essential behind.

The problem with this plan however is that simply forgetting that you have this power, doesn't actually take it away. We saw multiple times that characters manifested things around them unknowingly. In fact, Norman doesn't even recall entering the sphere but still has the abilities that the object gave him. Instead of trying to control their influence or use it for good, all these three have done is allow their fellow crew members to die in vain, and leave their powers intact with no knowledge of how to control them — a recipe that will certainly lead to more disasters.

Crichton's musings have a tendency to be deeply speculative of the human condition, but without using language that alienates the audience. I can follow his line of thinking easily without getting lost. In my opinion, you can only truly rate a Michael Crichton book by a) the depth and originality of the concept and b) the lucidity of the monologue/essay that will always occur, usually as a rant from some broken visionary genius or another, approx. 4/5 of the way through the book.

Hmmm... I may have gotten a little presumptive towards the end there. I'm sure some very smart people have very good reasons for scoffing at Michael Crichton. Allright, let me adjust my position: if you read Sphere, and have thoughts, positive or negative, about the Essay, please write me. If you know of other works, academic or flippant or otherwise, on the same topic, forward 'em. It happens to be one of my favorite things to discuss.However, the danger which resides within the fin is much more enigmatic and sneakily awful than the alien vegetable in the movie. The book maintains a solid footing in speculative sci-fi from beginning to end, and although the dialogue reminded me of 'The Thing...' movie, the mystery behind the fin reminded me of Solaris I wrote, "My fave Crichton book at the end." - Not sure if this is a knee-jerk reaction or not, but I'll have to read it again in the future to nail that statement down. Tropes show how literature is conceptualized and created and which mixture of elements makes works and genres unique: